Ep 242: Tended, Pt 4 - When Everyone Else Looks Like They Have It Together

Have you ever looked around at other interior designers and thought, What do they know that I don't?

They're booked out. Their projects look incredible. Their social media is polished. They seem confident, successful, and completely on top of their business.

Meanwhile, you're staring at a quiet pipeline, difficult clients, late shipments, team issues, or a slow month and wondering if you're doing something terribly wrong.

In this final episode of Tended, Michelle Lynne gets unusually honest about a season when her own business looked successful from the outside—but felt anything but successful on the inside.

After unexpectedly losing two key team members in 2023, navigating the launch of Studio Works and Sidemark, and then experiencing a prolonged slowdown in leads through 2024 and 2025, Michelle found herself questioning everything—including whether she should walk away from her design firm altogether.

And yet, if you had followed ML Interiors Group on social media during that time, you probably would have had no idea.

The projects were still being photographed. The posts were still going out. The business was still moving.

That's the point.

You are comparing your behind-the-scenes to someone else's highlight reel.

And that comparison can lead you to make decisions based on information you don't actually have.

In this episode, Michelle talks about: What it feels like to go through a genuinely difficult season while your business still looks successful from the outside

Why social media gives you an incomplete picture of another designer's business